Most recently Hamish was the Australian Program Assistant for Parliamentarians of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), a bipartisan organisation with the sole goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons.

PNND acts as a global support network for parliamentarians who are interested in nuclear disarmament. In this role Hamish took part in membership drives, administered the Australian membership list and assisted on a joint IPU/PNND book launch in Canberra, Australia.

My name is Hermes NDABEMEYE from Muramvya province, in Kiganda commune. I finished University of Burundi in French Literature department. Today, it’s been 5 years since I started working for CEDAC, engaging in different kinds of projects, especially in psychosocial assistance project, in which I’m in charge of supervising the activities in Bujumbura province.

I joined armed movement, FNL (Forces Nationales de Liberation) movement, by force because they took me by force when rebels met me on the road after the attacks on Kanyosha and Musaga commune in 2003. I was unable to escape. I stayed in the army for 2 years. During that period, I participated in different fighting. Something that hurt my heart was that I fell in insecurity, when my chiefs changed, because they accused me, saying that I’m a Tutsi because of my physical characters. Many people were accused of collaborating with Tutsis and killed. They were called Ivyitso (Traitors).

My name is Nibigira Joel. I am twenty-nine years old. I was born in the eastern part of Burundi; a commune and province of Ruyigi in Rukaragata village. I was born of semi-intellectual parents with different ethnicities.

2. What do you want to achieve at CEDAC?

I lived in Tanzania for nine years with a refugee status. When I was in second form arts (in 2002), with other hundreds of youth, I was kidnapped and taken into a bush by CNDD-FDD. I experienced three violent military trainings in which many young boys and girls perished. The trainings were hold in the daytime while the nighttime was preserved for fighting. We made long foot journeys from south to east, east to the Kibira national reserve passing in many central provinces. We were carrying and distributing arms and weapons to troop stations throughout the country. In these ‘rebel military mobility’, the national army targeted authorities of these rebel groups and so many of us were captured or killed. They were deadly missions. I observed a lot of armed violence and discovered that the place was not the right one for me because violence dominated the decision-making process. During my childhood, I had set a clear vision; to become a teacher or a journalist that would convey ‘a man of society’ as a status to me. I have always believed that developing programs for fighting against HIV/AIDS and standing for human rights would be very helpful to my community. Having gone through this hard situation hurt me so much but it helped me know how bad violence is.

Our vision

CEDAC vision is a peaceful and sustainable developed world. Some of the organisation's members have directly participated in armed conflict, while others have been victims of conflict through their indirect participation. CEDAC wants to interlink all victims of conflict within and across borders. Our vision seeks to eliminate conflict and sustain peace by creating means of reintegration for ex-combatants and others indirectly affected by conflict.

Our mission

Our mission is to support all victims of armed conflict. We seek to reduce armed violence through job creation, as well as offering other types of victim assistance such as psychosocial support to facilitate reintegration into society.

CEDAC values

At CEDAC, we hold our values of transparency, tolerance and honesty in the highest regard, because without these values we would not be able to survive as a not-for profit aid organisation. For example, without transparency our finical supporters, those involved in our projects and other stakeholders would not be able to hold us accountable. This in turn leads to an environment of mistrust.

It goes without saying that we uphold and value honesty at CEDAC. We believe that acting openly and honesty is not only good practice, but is essential for working in development and aid.

CEDAC is built also under a tolerance basis. This implies a high degree of acceptance for differences of races and ethnicity, background and diversity of ideas. Thus, CEDAC is an environment where contribution is reserved for everyone.